PITTSBURG — They will not say who they are, but the unknown client behind a phone survey last month wants the public to know only a portion of the results they found about the public’s opinion of casinos.

The opinion poll, conducted by Oakland-based EMC Research, surveyed 350 randomly selected voters in Pittsburg and asked general questions about the city councilmembers, then switched into questions about a casino in town and the Seeno family’s run-in with the FBI last year.

On Wednesday, a portion of the results were released to the East Bay Times and one other local blog, according to Alex Evans, president and founder of EMC Research.

“This is an unusual set of circumstances in that we were authorized to release this memo and speak about the survey, but we are not authorized to say why… it’s unusual for me to even talk to a reporter about survey results,” Evans said.

The survey found that residents “demand the right to vote on casinos and card rooms in their town” and “don’t want casinos or card rooms in their town” by a wide margin.

While targeting journalists with selective information and interviews was unusual for EMC Research, controversy over public opinion polling methods is not. In August of 2016, Oakland city council candidate Peggy Moore apologized for an online poll conducted by EMC Research that contained false information and toed the line of being a “push poll,” according to reporting by Robert Gammon of the Oakland Magazine.

Evans could neither confirm nor deny that there were questions about the Seeno family, and could not release any other results. However, numerous readers emailed this newspaper with the questions they remembered from the approximately 20-minute survey.

Many residents said they were repeatedly asked if they approved of the Pittsburg City Council making the decision to build a casino, as opposed to the voters.

“I would be extremely wary of considering anything that would take away the voting rights of our residents,” said Councilmember Jelani Killings, who reiterated that a license for a card room or casino with more than two tables would need voter approval first.

The question hearkens back to 1997, when the city of Pittsburg was divided over a proposal from Albert D. Seeno Jr.’s Seecon Financial & Construction Co. to build the San Marco Casino and Convention Center, a 60,000-square-foot development that would have included 58 card tables.

The City Council created a policy that put all decisions on casinos before the voters, and after a special election, the measure was defeated and the proposal was off the table. After the race, Seecon issued a statement that the vote would have been closer if not for the last-minute involvement of the Committee for a Better Pittsburg, an anti-card room group.

The group put out mailing cards with rotten fish next to the headline, “Something smells fishy in Pittsburg.”

It wasn’t until a week after the election that the committee filed its required financial contribution statements, which showed that the group was primarily financed by rivals Casino San Pablo and the California Grand Casino in Pacheco.

Flash-forward 20 years and the city continues to talk with the Seeno family over development and casinos. However, City Manager Joe Sbranti said that the city does not have any applications for casinos or card rooms.

“Yes, we’ve had conversations about all sorts of development, including what if we do a card room, what if we do a different type of housing development or what if we swap land from here to here and do a development here,” City Manager Joe Sbranti said. “…If we’re going to take actual action, we advertise, get public comment, have a land use subcommittee that is in addition to the planning commission that is in addition to the city council.”

Sbranti said that no developer has shown them plans of a casino or card room and asked them what they thought about it.

Evans guessed at his client’s intentions, saying he suspected there was a casino “reasonably being proposed.”

Although Evans could not release the identity of the client, the field of potential financiers behind the survey and public relations push narrows considering the cost. The city of Shoreline, Wash., contracted EMC Research to perform a 500-person survey for $22,700 last year.

On Sept. 11, the city did receive a letter from a lawyer representing four local casinos — The Oaks Card Club, Napa Valley Casino, California Grand Casino and Artichoke Joe’s Casino. In the letter, the four casinos stated they opposed “any attempts” to change the card room ordinance or to establish a new card room without a vote by residents.

“Important decisions of this type should be made openly and transparently, and with the participation of the community,” the letter read. To view the letter, visit goo.gl/YHEAaw

Aaron Davis reports on East Contra Costa County for the Bay Area News Group. He has worked for papers throughout the Seacoast of New Hampshire, as well as in Queens, New York and in Amarillo, Texas. Send tips to 408-859-5105 or to aarondavis@bayareanewsgroup.com.

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